Wednesday, July 28, 2010

They do me.My characters are so alive, I can feel them stirring behind my thoughts. It breaks my heart because that's the only place they will ever exist.

Imagine the euphoria of having them so real, that they exist in everyone's heart who reads their story? Even better--if Hollywood contracts with you? You see them walking, breathing, talking--on screen.

Does JK Rowling get the satisfaction of having them come to life when she watches her loves dance across the screen? Maybe in some bitter, sweet way.

I've been thinking, breathing, eating--sleeping--Rock Star. I've never really cared for metal bands until this story came knocking on my back door.

I've never listened so carefully to lyrics, rythms, beats, voices--nor have I cared to image how they look onstage while performing.

Everything has changed now. I can imagine what they are doing--on and off stage. I think of Morgan--my MC--every time a metal rock band is singing on the radio. I even ask my hubby to leave it on that radio station so I can listen to them. He knows what I'm up to, too.

It used to be that he was the only one that liked that kinda music.

I wonder if this is a passing thing, or if it will become a part of me because of my novel . . .

I love Kip's stage presence in this video, "Madalaine". (I couldn't post it here, unfortunately) *Sigh* Notice the super high kicks, the way he slides from side to side, almost on his knees? That's how I picture Moggie doing his thing onstage while he sings. ;)

How about this:

I Luuuuuuuuuv their bandynamics--how they smile, put their heads together and sing their parts. They're having fun, here, right? That's how MezzTup is when they perform.

I found that I like Steelheart the best. Listen to Miljenko Matijevic's voice as he sings "I'll Never Let You Go". *Swoon* I love his voice and that's how I imagine Moggie's vocal range. And sound.

I find that I don't mind hearing those rock bands blasting away like I used to once upon a time. My hubby really appreciates that fact, since he's always LOVED that music.

How fitting this quote is by C C DeVille: "When you are still dreaming, you haven't written your book, so everything is open and the sky is the limit and whatever you can think can become a possibility."

Joan of Arc: (1412) She followed the visions from God, directing her to reclaim her homeland from English domination. She was captured, sold to the English, tried by an ecclesiastical court, and burned at the stake. She was only nineteen years old!

Martin Luther: (1483) He was appalled to see that church officials felt they could escape purgatory by grand purchases in the name of God. He translated the bible from Latin into the language the people used, so that they could study on their own. He was excommunicated by the pope and condemned as an outlaw by the emperor.

John Knox: (1505)Lost his old faith when he studied the church fathers' (Jerome and Augustine) teachings of the ancient faith. He was considered a heretic and was made prisoner of the French and condemned to the galleys as a slave chained to an oar.

Joseph Smith, Jr.: (1805) Believed that the original church established of Christ in its entirety had been lost and refused to join any religion. He was imprisoned, tarred and feathered, and chased from his home.

Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw nations and many others: (1831)"Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their destinations, and many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee." (quote found here) I would have to say because of the lands the settlers wanted, not respecting the current residences as deserving human beings. Again, because of their beliefs.Even though the Declaration of Independence granted freedom of religion in the States, it didn't end persecution of those who desired to follow their own hearts.

They were driven city to city until they fled far into the west, settling into what we know as the State of Utah.

Many died along the way, burying their children in the cruel wild. Many arrived orphans, too.Though they endured their own Trail of Tears, they finally were able to root and grow, free to follow their beliefs.

I truly admire any and all who can stand for justice, honor and freedom.

What has your journey been like to fight oppression of those regarding your beliefs?

Friday, July 23, 2010

Kathi Oram Peterson is holding a race, if you will. What kind? Well for the first five people who 1) Find The Stone Traveler in a book store, 2) Take a picture of YOU standing by the book on the store shelf, and 3) email (kathiorampeterson[at]yahoo[dot]com) the picture to her, she has a prize for you!!!(For more details, go here)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Our dearest friend, Sangu Mandanna, is in the process of settling into her new home (yippee!). Boxes. Dishes wrapped in newspaper. Clothes in plastic bags. Trucks. A new yard. A lovely house to play in!

In her honor, I would LOVE to hold ablogfest August 6th--Let's throw her a housewarming party!

The theme is about change. Any kind of change. How did your character endure change? Did she crash and burn? Did he laugh and walk into the sunset? What kind of conflict was involved?

It could be an epiphany kinda change. A moving-away kinda change. A dealing-with-death kinda change. Any and all.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The lovely Tessa Conte is doing this awesome cool blogfest--how exciting is that?

This scene here is from my YA Rock Star, Moggie's turning point of his life. Don't be mad at me!

“So much blood. So much!”

“What the . . . ?” He sat up and steadied his head from his spiraling wake. He braced himself on the ledge of the bed and yawned.

“Help!”

Moggie heard the ragged plea in the girl’s throat and it pushed him to full consciousness. He pushed himself off the bed and staggered out of his room. His head spun and he saw his hand splayed against wall. “Whoa.”

“So much.”

Moggie did not recognize the voice. It had to be one of the girls. He dashed to the loft, leaned against the banister, and gazed down into the living room. It was half dark, lit by Zag’s favorite lamp.

Red. There was red everywhere.

Moggie cried out and stumbled back, and tripped over his tangled feet. He crashed against the wall with a loud thud. “No,” he wailed. “Not again! Zag?” He called out. “Zag, where are you?”

“No. No!”

“Where’s Zag?” he demanded. He could barely hear over the sound of his heart. His breath rushed out in loud gasps as he started for the stairs. Strange, but in his dreams, he’d never had one with a girl in it. Ever.

In his panicked rush, Moggie cursed as he felt his foot hook around his other ankle. He swore as the steps flew toward his face in slow motion. If he could just reach up and grab the banister—as he attempted to save his fall, he saw that he reached out for the steps instead.

“No!” he shouted. A snap. Numb shock. Burning pain.

He rolled and fell and crashed down the stairs.

“Please—I swear I didn’t do it!”

Moggie came to a heaping stop at the bottom of the stairs. He moaned and remembered why he was there. He lifted his head, struggling to comprehend what he was looking at. Shadows. White. Some red. The back of the sofa. Nothing more. Color twirled in tight circles.

“Zag?” His voice cracked. “Answer me!”

“I can’t, I can’t. No, I gotta get out of here!” The girl.

Moggie saw feet running for the door from his vantage point. He squinted. Long black hair. Lana. He remembered her name. “No, you’re not goin’ anywhere!” he bellowed. Anger whipped through him and lent him strength. He managed to climb to his feet, ignoring the vertigo that washed over him and the tingling pain in his ankle.

“No—you can’t make me!”

“Oh, yes I can.” Moggie thrust himself onto the retreating girl. She screamed when they collided. They collapsed to the carpet with a loud thump. Her body pinned beneath his weight.

“Let me go!” she squealed. She writhed beneath him, her arms trapped.

Moggie ground his teeth until he heard them scrape. He tightened his hold when she tried to move.

A soft beeping sound. He turned his face from her hair and saw the phone. The brilliant green light. It was off its hook. He reached out. His fingertips just grazing the cold surface.

The girl was fast. Up came her elbow. Sharp. Precise. Excruciating.

Moggie lost his breath and rolled to the side just enough for her to squeeze away. He fought for breath. Tears hot and bright. He turned and saw her silhouette pause at the front door. A dark shape against white.

“He deserved it,” she said. Her voice calm.

“What?” he croaked. Again, he reached for the phone, his wrist throbbing. He swore when he saw how swollen it was. A glimmer. More red. A shadow.

Zag.

His face blank. No life. Eyes wide open. Blood. Everywhere . . .

Moggie screamed.

I hope you enjoyed this--my heart is throbbing hard with the thought of what poor Zag went through! Don't forget to go and read the other awesome death scenes!!! :)

PS--Happy Sunday!! :)

Friday Follower guest was Lisa! She rocks, go check out her blog and become a follower! :D

Friday, July 16, 2010

She is an aspiring author. She is a wonderful mother who cherishes her children. She is an awesome friend who will love you no matter what. Her love of writing has grown so quickly and she can't wait to share it with the world when she is ready. She has recently became part of the MMW crew! :D

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Sorry for waiting so long to do this. I thought it would be smart of me, but time escaped me! :(

I need to thank those who thought of me . . .

First off, the rules are to recognize those who thought of you and to make aware your awardees. :)))

Here it goes!!!!

______________________________Thank you Suzie, Kelsey, Hart, Bryan, and Sangu for your thoughtfulness when you passed the Versatile Blogger Award!

Here are 7 things about me along with 15 blog friendz:

1. I recently discovered that I can slip into editing mode quicker if I do a few math problems. It helps me to sharpen my focus.

2. I cried when my teen girl went to camp for a few days. (I don't think it matters how many kidlets I have or how old they get--they're still my treasures!)

3. I wrote a short horror story when I was 15. It freaked me out so badly when I read it later that I ripped and tossed it.

4. I recently discovered that I have a problem using -ing words in my WIP. I had about 96 in ONE chapter! Yikes!!!!

5. Before I had kids, I was adventurous and fearless. After I had them, I became overly cautious, paranoid and protective. A perfect example of this is when we go camping. I can hardly sleep a wink with all the small forest sounds, thinking a bear is going to tear through our tent and snatch my kids away from me--even a mountain lion, yikes! It's already happened in these Utah campsites. :(

Sunday, July 11, 2010

I thought I had scheduled something for Sunday and, as the hermitoad I am, I just decided to break from my real world shell and creep into cyberealm, only to discover that I forgot! :(

Ugh!

I forgot all about yesterday.

What I've been doing:

I've decided to make it a point to edit Rock Star 3 hours a day, but for the weekend. I love it. I actually feel refreshed when I walk away from it. I love the left-brain work it forces me to do.

I challenged myself to continue with fresh writing.

I need to continue a novel I had dropped in order to edit a different WIP--YA Darkspell. I'm so bad.

First, what I plan to do, is read through its entirety (most likely edit obvious mistakes), and then--hopefully!!!--pick up where I left off and finish the darn thing.

It's a vampire read. No, nothing like Stephenie's stuff. I like to think of it more like an Underworld kinda thing (in terms of intensity).

I can't remember when the last time it was when I wrote a new book while I edited another. It's like writing left and right handed at the same time, don't you think? Leaping from editor mode to creator mode? Ack!

Have you ever written a new novel while editing another? How do you disengage yourself from one hat to the other?

Friday, July 9, 2010

I'm to reveal the contents in my bag, but unfortunately, I don't own a purse so I'm choosing my computer bag!

Muahahahahah!

Here it goes!

How much stuff can I fit in here? Well, enough to make it look round! Lol, but I don't want the poor thing to roll off any flat surface, so I restrain myself from overstuffing it!

Let me see if I can describe everything here without causing chaos! Yelp! think I can do that? Uh--let me try!

Starting from the top (clockwise) is my lappie--freshly born from the store this past February! :D There is the software below that with a USB cord along with notes on pieces of paper beneath it. There's the recharging cord along with an extension cord, because my house doesn't have the ground plug to it (grrr). Then there's a few pieces of candies I have stashed. The bead-work key chain holders were made by my kidlets and what's hooked to them is my flashdrive!! The white sheets of paper on top of the manilla folders are editing notes on staging my edits for any WIPs. What's in the top manilla folder are my drawings for my personal blog and the bottom folder has tons of topics for my both of my blogs.

There you have it. The inner sanctum of Elizabeth Mueller's writing corner in a bag! ;)

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Seeing how many have suffered in the distant and near past, my heart and eyes and pain are full for them.

I know that the Lord had never intended for man to be subdued, controlled, beaten, (since His is a message of love) but there are always those who succumb to the power of greed and don't care for the human factor of life but themselves.

I am forever grateful that the Lord had provided a home for those who will seek it out. A land promised freedom so long as they remember Him.

Friday, July 2, 2010

This summer has been sooo crazy for me--there's so much time to spend with the kids andvery little m0ney to spend on them. *sigh* At least they're enjoying their freedom of noschool!

Okay, here goes my Friday guest!

She's hand-written 282 pages in a year and 10 months. She is a mother of 5 wonderful kidlets. In January, she was offered a contract to publish her YA romance. She's written in several genres, but fantasy is her passion.